Agri college develops liquid bio-fertilizers with longer shelf-life

At present various strains have been prepared and are undergoing laboratory trials. The liquid bio-fertilizers will be given out to farmers all over Maharashtra on a trial basis in the next few months. The project is funded by the Department of Agriculture,Government of Maharashtra.

SW Jadhav,agriculture bacteriologist,“Liquid bio-fertilizers will cut down the costs tremendously. For instance,using Azotobacter can save 10-15 kgs of nitrogen fertilizers per hectare. While the costs may seem to be higher,the shelf life is much more than the carrier based fertilizers,thus making them economically viable. Liquid fertilizers are priced at Rs 200 per litre which have a shelf life of an year. The carrier based ones come for Rs 30-40 per kg and last for about 5-6 months.”The bacteria that are used for this include Azotobacter,bacillus negatherium,rhizobium and others. For this process the bacteria are added to the routine culture medium and preservatives are added to it. Thus the bacteria remain in a dormant state and remain viable. When added to the soil they become active. Azotobacter plays an important role in the nitrogen cycle of plants by atmospheric nitrogen fixation. It is especially important for replenishing the soil nutrients in areas where excessive irrigation and use of fertilizers render the soil useless. can be used for cereals including wheat,sorghum,maize,pearl millet (Bajra) ,paddy,sugarcane,vegetable crops and food crops. The caaier based azotobacter has 25 per cent efficiency.

“The liquid bio-fertilizers will find more application in plantations and farms that have drip irrigation facilities as in such cases it becomes it easier to apply and makes it more effective. Also we have found them to have high temperature tolerance and thus are easy to store,” said Shete MH,senior research assistant for the project.

While the technology is already being used by private firms,they are not available to the farmers on a large scale. So the product being developed by the College of Agriculture,it will be available for agencies that distribute fertilizers to the farmers after the trials.